


in other words

by keijitrash



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Male Pronouns for Asra (The Arcana), Not Beta Read, Reader-Insert, Reader-Interactive, Sarcasm, Sassy, Swearing, Sweet Asra (The Arcana)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-06-09 20:59:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19483927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keijitrash/pseuds/keijitrash
Summary: A University AUwherein Asra constantly crashes your place, Julian tries not to flunk any of his subjects, Nadia balances studies while managing a big business, Muriel wishes his friends didn't stick out so much, Portia works part time as Nadia's assistant and full time as Julian's mischievous younger sister, and Lucio tries his best to get away from his terrifying mother.





	1. introduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Apprentice is seen as a female for easier reference.

"Asra!" you exclaim with a hint of irritation as you pull the sheets off of the white haired male. You raise a brow when he groans and shields his eyes from the sunlight streaming through the window. It was already 8:45 in the morning - you weren't going to let him make the two of you late for first period.

"Outta bed sleepyhead," you tug at his wrist gently while he continued to mutter about how sleepy he was.

It takes a full five minutes to get Asra into the bathroom to shower, and three for him to emerge dripping wet with only a towel wrapped around his waist. He scratches the nape of his neck sheepishly while you roll your eyes and throw him fresh clothes from the part of the closet he'd claimed as his side.

"I swear to god I will invite Julian over just to spite you one day," you mutter under your breath. Without waiting for the man to get changed, you walk out of the room, bag already slung over your shoulder, and head out.

You hear Asra shuffle not so far behind and laugh when he calls for you to wait up.

* * *

The two of you arrive with fifteen minutes to spare.

Asra strolls to your usual spot in the lecture hall where Julian, Nadia, and Muriel are already seated. You follow closely behind and slip into the seat beside his, placing yourself between him and Julian. The auburn haired man gives you a lopsided grin, stretches an arm out, and drapes it over your shoulders.

"Seriously?" you raise a brow, and he shrugs.

"No one's complaining - not even Asra," he reasons lazily. You snort and shake your head but don't bother to swat his arm off of you. Asra sends a glare at Julian, whose smile never falters, then sharply turns his head away.

You swear that if it wasn't for the brief phase the two had together, it would be easier to sit between them.

While the hall was still devoid of its professor, you and the rest of your friends talk animatedly about nothing in particular _(Nadia apparently has a business meeting on the weekend, Asra has plans on visiting his parents, Muriel is dropping by the animal shelter after classes, and Julian is going off to a party to drink later in the evening)_.

When the professor saunters into the room, Julian doesn't bother extracting the arm that was still on your shoulders.

* * *

Muriel reserves the table for lunch. You sit beside him with Double Stuff'd Oreos and a glass of milk while he held an egg sandwich in his hands. You catch him look at your 'lunch' with a confused expression, but he doesn't say a word about the strangeness of your meal.

"Want one?" you ask with a smile while offering a milk-dunked oreo on a fork. He looks startled for a moment before he shakes his head.

"...No thanks."

You shrug, "Offer stands, I have lots more," then take a bite out of the biscuit with a sigh.

Halfway through the pack of oreos, you spot Nadia's Tesla roll in and take a vacant parking space - she, Asra, and Julian were back. You hold back a laugh when they emerge from the car each holding a paperbag from Burger King.

"Show offs," you say then pop another oreo in your mouth. Muriel's lips curls ever so slightly at your words. "If they didn't get me a churro, I'm definitely going to ignore them for the rest of the day."

They did, in fact, _not_ forget to buy you a churro.

Nadia gives you a look that clearly translated to _did-you-think-I'd-forget_ while handing you the treat with a small smirk. You grin up at her and say your thanks before taking a bite from it. While the three made themselves comfortable on the seat across you and Muriel, you gently nudge the buff man with your elbow and point at the nearly finished pack of Oreos.

"I won't be able to finish it all," you tell him, "help me out?"

Muriel glowers at you, but you meet his gaze without fear. Sighing in defeat, he takes the fork you left in the glass of milk and takes a piece of oreo with it. You grin, all while nibbling on your churro.

* * *

When Nadia asks you for Philo notes, your brows shoot up in surprise - she was the most unexpected person to ask for such a thing. At the look you were giving, she explains that she wasn't able to copy much since she fell asleep in the middle of the lecture after not being able to get enough rest then. You hand her your notebook, stretch on your seat, then bury your face between your folded arms on the table.

"Would you like me to wake you up when the professor gets here?" she asks, though her eyes never leaves the paper she was writing on.

"Yes please," you mumble in response before letting your eyelids flutter close.

* * *

Portia calls your name out with much enthusiasm when she sees you come out of the campus gates with the rest of your friends. She addresses Nadia with a 'Miss' and greets her a good afternoon before pulling you in a hug and letting go so quickly you barely managed to hug her back. Julian stands slighly on the tips of his toes when his little sister tries to whack him on the head and grins when she fails to reach her target.

Nadia excuses herself for a moment after realizing that she left her textbook in her locker and gives Portia the keys to the Tesla.

"Everyone please make yourselves comfortable while I'm away," Nadia says then apologizes for causing a delay before heading back inside the campus.

Portia unlocks the Tesla with a beep and takes the shotgun seat while you, Asra, and Julian fit yourselves in the back with you in between them as always.

"So, how's your day?" Portia asks, angling her head to the side to meet your eyes.

"Not that exciting," you reply honestly, "I mean it's just lesson after lesson, so there isn't much to talk about."

Portia hums. You give her a smile and promise to tell her about every worthwhile tale that happens in the future.

* * *

When you arrive home (without one Asra who said he was going to stay in his condo), you feel exhaustion sweep over you. You kick your shoes off, lock the door behind, twist the deadbolt close to make sure that no one could enter, then plop down on your couch with a light thump.

Literally right after you do so, your phone rings in your back pocket. With a groan, you slide your phone out and pick up the call before you could even see the caller ID that read ' _Lucio_ '.

The personification of _plaguey_ whines from the other end of the call. He complains about missing classes today because he ended up sleeping for thirteen hours and begs for you to take pictures of your notes. Before you could even reply to the request, he switches topics and then talks about how he was-

You blink.

"Can you repeat what you said?"

Lucio sounds annoyed but he does so anyway, "I said I'm in front of your door, please let me in."

You pull your phone away from your ear and stare at it, mouth agape.

"Are you for fricking for real right now?"

"I'm dead serious," Lucio replies with a little more irritation than earlier, "So can you just open the door and let me in? I really _don't_ want to get beaten up by my mom again."

You open the door eventually. You let him inside despite your previous reactions, lock the door again, then ask if he was fine with having instant noodles for dinner. Lucio makes himself comfortable on the couch and watches while you boil water and take two packs of noodles.

"What got your mom so pissed this late at night?"

Lucio shrugs his shoulders exaggeratedly, "No _fucking_ idea."

* * *

_Vesuvia was a fairly small city, and it was during your last two years of high school when you met your strange but fun gaggle of friends. And you weren't going to complain about it any time soon._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why I started writing this, but I really hope you guys enjoy! The plan is that there'll be different routes - Asra, Julian, Muriel, and Lucio (I'm sorry Portia + Nadia stans! I found it difficult to write a romance for them in this AU) - that focus more on one character than everyone else.
> 
> I hope you guys will look forward to this book + the updates! Be sure to leave a comment below and share your thoughts + what you might want to see next :>
> 
> ❤ Rena


	2. i - asra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day in your life with Asra.

It's almost nine in the evening when a certain white haired male pops in from the open window of your bedroom with a grin and two bags from the nearby convenience store.

From the looks of it, he was back from visiting his parents.

You look at him in amusement while he slides the window close then pads to the living room where you were in. He places the two bags on the coffee table and cozies up beside you on the couch after slipping out of his shoes.

"I got ice cream," he tells you while resting his head comfortably on your lap, "and Cheetos, and Nutella because we ran out of it last week, and a lot of chips and snacks."

You let out a small laugh and thread your fingers into his soft hair.

"How's Aisha and Salim?"

The expression on Asra's face softens at the mention of his parents. He closes his eyes, enjoying your gentle ministrations, then answers, "They're doing good...they asked me about you and teased me for sleeping over at your place most of the time instead of staying in my condo."

You snort, "It's true though. They buy you a condo for you to live in yet you keep on staying in my apartment most of the time."

Asra does a small shrugging motion and you snicker at the response.

* * *

One of the strangest things about Asra, you think, is that he has a permit to own an exotic pet and actually has one. She was a silvery ball python the length of his arm named Faust. He'd just brought her with him one day, curled up around his neck for warmth, with a huge smile on his face while he introduced his new found friend to you.

At the moment, the aforementioned snake lives in a terrarium in your apartment (you don't remember why you allowed it), regularly slipping out and hunting for mice while being surprisingly careful not to break anything in your home. She was one of the main reasons why Asra would constantly stay in your place; though you weren't aware of any other reason but that.

Today, she's sprawled on your stomach and Asra's while the both of you lay on your bed. Her owner is already asleep beside you ( _such a fast sleeper_ ), while you continued to stare at the ceiling trying to tire yourself to sleep.

Faust flicks her forked tongue at you and you give her a small smile and gently run a finger across her head.

She moves the rest of her body off of Asra and slithers up to you with a hiss. She curls herself carefully around your neck.

"You can't sleep too?"

As if she could understand your words, Faust hisses again.

You feel Asra shift beside you on the bed. You contain a yelp when he places an arm on your waist and pulls you close - like you were his teddy bear - all while mumbling incoherently in his sleep.

Sometimes you wonder if Asra was aware that he did this a lot when he was unconscious.

* * *

You wake up to the sound of your name repeatedly being called.

You blink your bleary eyes open and mutter a ' _wha_ ' when you see the familiar outline of Asra standing out of bed beside you. You rub your eyes then stretch with a groan before pushing yourself out of bed. Asra chuckles then follows you out of the bedroom and to the living room where the smell of freshly cooked pancakes and honey greets you.

"You made pancakes?"

"I woke up before you did."

Asra hands you an empty plate and a fork and gets one for himself as well. You two sit on the floor across each other with the coffee table in between and eat the deliciously made breakfast with satisfaction.

"What day is it today?" you ask mid-bite.

Asra chews and swallows first before replying, "It's Thursday - our classes still start at eleven and it's just past eight."

"Huh."

You finish eating your share of pancakes and take your plate to the sink. Asra follows a few seconds later and wraps you in a warm back-hug. A ' _pfft_ ' escapes you when he rests his head on your shoulder, his fluffy hair tickling your neck.

"Someone's clingy today," you tease while running water down your plates. Asra hums contentedly from your shoulder while you finish washing the dishes.

You place the plates on the rack then pat his arms around your waist. "C'mon, I don't want to keep standing."

The two of you walk back in the living room and plop yourselves on the couch. Asra brings you close to him, making your head rest against his chest, while he turned the television on with his free hand. You watch with him, even though you absorb nothing from the show playing on the screen, until you feel your eyelids growing heavy. You place a hand over your mouth as you yawn and shift your position against Asra so that your head is resting against his taller frame.

You miss the small smile on his lips as you fall comfortably asleep with his an arm wrapped around your waist.

* * *

" _Fuck_! Asra! Get up! It's ten thirty!"

You shoot out of the couch the second you check your phone and see the time, and throw yourself into the bathroom, quickly taking off your clothes and turning the shower on. Even with the water running, you could hear Asra's disgruntled groan from the living room. You squeak out an apology while lathering yourself in soap.

"Don't worry about it, [Name]," you hear Asra say from the bedroom along with the sound of the closet opening and clothes being taken out from it. "I'll call Nadi and ask if she can pick us up."

Once you finish, you quickly wrap your towel around yourself and get out. Immediately noticing, Asra gives you a brief smile before heading inside the bathroom to take a shower. You pull out a top from your closet, shrug it on then dry your legs before slipping into a pair of pants.

You pad outside of your room and to the terrarium in the living room where Faust is. She inclines her head at your direction, forked tongue flicking out in greeting. You reach your arm out to her and she easily slithers upward then boops her face to your nose. You giggle softly and run a finger smoothly across her scales.

"[Name] are you decent?" Asra calls out after a while.

"Yup!"

You place Faust back inside her terrarium and take your bag by the door just in time to hear a car beep right outside your apartment. You sling it over your shoulder, put on a pair of shoes, and head outside with Asra trailing behind you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (7/6/19) I'll be starting with Asra's route before proceeding with everyone else's! The rest of the routes will be following the same timeline and it kind of works like the game - you romance the character whose route you chose.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Hit that bookmark for updates, click that Kudos to send love and be sure to comment your thoughts and suggestions below~
> 
> ❤ Rena


	3. ii - asra

In the middle of your class with Professor Valdemar, Asra suddenly taps you on the shoulder. When you turn to look at him, he's buzzing with barely contained excitement. Asra lifts up his notebook and shows you an elaborate drawing of a costume paired with a fox-looking mask. He seems extremely proud of himself when you look back up at him.

" _Well_?" he flips to the next page and shows another costume sketch, this time paired with a raven mask. "Does it look good?"

You give him a thumbs up and he beams.

"I had nothing to do last night so I ended up sketching costumes for all of us since the Masque festival is nearing," Asra explains while turning to another page, "Nadi gets the owl, I get the fox, Ilya gets the raven, you get the dog, Muriel's is a bear and - well, I wasn't sure if Pasha's coming with us but I made her one too so she's the cat."

"They're beautiful, Asra," you smile at him, and he grins and utters his thanks before discreetly showing them to Nadia as well.

By the time lunch arrives, Asra manages to convince Muriel to help him with making the masks while Nadia and Julian ponder over the costume designs he made. You also pitch in some suggestions here and there whenever they ask you if something is good or bad. It's always been this way for you and your friends as the Masque Festival drew closer.

Just like the previous year, Asra had designed costumes for everyone, Muriel made the masks, and Nadia made sure that all the costumes were stitched and made to perfection for each and every one of you. The Masque Festival, after all, is an event that only happens annually and exclusively in Vesuvia. It's during this time of the year when people from other places flock and visit to be part of an extravagant masquerade.

You and Julian were getting into a heated discussion between changing color schemes for Asra's costume when everyone on the table stills. You knit your brows together in confusion. When you notice Asra looking at you - _no, not at you_ \- over your shoulder, you shift on your seat to face back.

"Lucio!" you exclaim in surprise, not expecting the blond to show up in you and your friend's table.

_At all._

He and everyone else had some trouble before you met them, which is why you made certain never to be with him while hanging out with the rest of your friends. But, well, here he is.

"Go out with me for lunch?" he gives you a small smile, and you give him a sad one in return.

"What do you need with [Name]?" Asra interjects before you could say anything. His usual warm and welcoming air is replaced by a cold and stiff one. He places a hand on your knee.

Lucio eyes your friends wearily before explaining.

"My mother entrusted me the task to make arrangements for the Masque Festival next week," he says, "I was going to ask [Name] to help me and - well - Nadia, you're part of the committee to, aren't you?"

He nearly stutters while forming his words. He turns to look at Nadia pleadingly, and she sighs with resignation before affirming that she's part of the Festival's committee. Asra's face softens slightly - not to the point where he's relaxed - and invites Lucio in the most civil and calm way to sit along with the rest of you.

"Nadi is part of the committee, and we were just discussing plans for the Festival," Asra dimples him. Lucio looks somewhat relieved before taking the vacant space beside you.

You give the blond an encouraging smile before everyone else begins to continue their earlier conversations like nothing happened.

It's a surprisingly productive lunch period for you and the rest of your friends. 

Julian and Asra were able to suggest multiple ideas — most of them being crazy and not-too-sane — for the second day of the Festival. Nadia was able to assure that your costumes for the fete would be ready at least three days before. She also managed to plan allowances for the separate events like the dramatic play on the first day and the masquerade on the second. Even Muriel contributed by suggesting decorations for the many rooms in the manor where the last day of the Masque Festival will be celebrated.

When the bell overhead rings signifying the end of your break, everyone seems almost startled at the amount of time that passed.

Lucio is the first to stand from his seat. He thanks all of you and wonders if he could sit in your table again until the Festival. Strangely enough (since no one was comfortable around him due to events in their younger years), they let him. Lucio utters his thanks one last time before leaving.

* * *

Asra walks with you back home.

It's a silent travel from school to your apartment, but the silence between the two of you hold no awkwardness. When you two arrive, you ask him to hold your bag before fishing out your keys from your pocket and opening the door. He follows you inside with a familiarity only he has.

Instead of what everyone else - _sans him_ \- tend to do upon entering your home (sitting stiffly on your couch), Asra walks to Faust's terrarium and greets her with a longing tone in his voice. He lets her slither up his arm and wrap herself around his neck.

"Have you been eating well?" Asra asks while his snake bumps her nose with his.

You let out a giggle before going to your room to change.

"Are you staying over tonight, Asra?" you ask while putting on a loose shirt and a pair of shorts.

"Mmm, I'm going to," he replies loudly, "I'll make us dinner so you should go shower so you can head to sleep after eating."

You smile to yourself and call out an 'okay' before taking your towel from your drawer to bathe just like he told you to.

Asra wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you close to him. He tucks your head under his chin and you relax in his arms. He tells you his plans for the Festival in a soft voice; almost like a bedtime story that draws you slowly to sleep. You feel your eyes flutter close at the sound of his voice.

When you feel like you're close to falling asleep, he presses a light kiss against your hair and mutters 'good night'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this certainly took some time to do! I'm sorry for the long wait for this update, and thank you for sticking with me! ❤ I've been super busy with school and my part-time so I've barely had any time to write my stories skshfiwhcjwhc
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter of Asra!
> 
> Mann we've been totally blessed with all the updates of Nyx it made me frustrated not to be able to write at all. What do you guys think about the current book updates on the game? 🤔
> 
> Be sure to drop an answer in the comments - rate and review and be sure to hit that kudos if you haven't yet! See you on the next update!
> 
> ❤Rena


End file.
